


Mistletoe Villain

by NightMereBear



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Netteflix Secret Seteth Winter Gift Exchange (Fire Emblem)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:21:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28487490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightMereBear/pseuds/NightMereBear
Summary: In which Annette asks Felix to be her pretend date at Sylvain's holiday party.Written for the Netteflix Secret Seteth project!
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 6
Kudos: 43
Collections: Netteflix Secret Seteth 2020





	Mistletoe Villain

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for mags for the netteflix secret seteth project!!! I had a handful of different potential prompts to work with but I decided to choose Annette as a youtuber and fake dating!!! I sincerely hope you enjoy your little writing gift!!! :D

Ninety-eight percent of the time, Annette loved being a YouTuber.

She loved the flexibility it offered her schedule, she loved being able to share her songs with the world, and she loved when she got comments about how she’d inspired others to do the same. Even so, ninety-eight percent was not one hundred percent, the remaining two percent currently manifesting itself in the shape of Lorenz Hellman Gloucester.

It wasn’t that Annette didn’t like Lorenz, not really. It was just that his proclivity for 'constructive' criticism wasn’t what she had signed up for when she’d agreed to go to Sylvain’s holiday party.

“…your most recent tune, of course. It was lovely and I was particularly compelled by the melody. The words themselves, well I do know a thing or two about poetry and I would be happy to share my knowledge with you. Not that your lyrics were lacking, I just believe the proper melody requires the proper cadence and, despite the catchiness your song provided, I believe I can help you to improve the bits that were, shall we say, inefficient.”

It took a moment for Annette to realize that Lorenz was waiting for a response. The sardonic part of her mind was surprised that he had stopped talking long enough for her to give him one. She tried for a smile but the expression was, at best, lukewarm.

“Um, wow that’s really, uh, generous of you, Lorenz. But I—”

“It is, isn’t it?” Lorenz interrupted, clearly having no interest in the rest of what she’d had to say. Either that or he’d gotten so caught up in the compliment that he hadn’t realized she wasn’t finished speaking. He took a step closer to her and when Annette attempted to take a step back, she nearly backed into the Gautier's meticulously decorated tree. “Might I add, my dear Annette, that you look simply marvelous this evening? Like a bud blossoming into a beautiful rose, you certainly have left our high school years behind. Not that you weren’t charming then, of course. Just the duckling before the swan.”

He chuckled and tossed his hair.

Annette tried not to facepalm.

Lorenz had always been a bit of a womanizer. Honestly, she was surprised he had shown up to Sylvain’s party at all considering the rivalry between the two. On second thought, maybe that was the reason he’d attended in the first place. It wouldn’t have surprised her to learn that this whole party was actually an arena in which Sylvain and Lorenz were competing to see who could pick up the most girls. But Lorenz had begun to speak again and Annette had nowhere to retreat. If she stepped back any further, she’d become an ornament herself.

“You have done so well since we graduated. Honestly, few are able to pull off making a living doing what you do.” Lorenz gave her what he probably believed to be a charming grin, though Annette had known him too long for it to have any real effect. “What do you say? From one successful person to another, would you care to be my date tonight, Ms. Domini—”

“I can’t.”

The words were out before Lorenz could properly ask the question and he blinked, clearly startled by her abrupt refusal.

“Ah. I see,” he responded, clearing his throat and taking a step back. “May I inquire as to why?”

There were several answers Annette could have given: She wasn’t feeling well. She had promised to spend the evening with Mercie. She had to leave early thus rendering the date pointless. Or she could have told him the truth: that she liked him enough as a friend and preferred to keep it that way.

None of these things left her lips. What _actually_ came out of her mouth was: “I already have one. A date, I mean.”

Of course, this was not true. She _didn’t_ have a date and she couldn’t blame Lorenz for asking his next question.

“Oh! I did not realize. Who is the lucky man?”

Naturally, Annette had to give him an answer. And naturally, she panicked and pointed at the first person she saw.

“Felix!” she said quickly. “I-I’m here with Felix.”

She wasn’t actually here with Felix and the skepticism that flashed through Lorenz’s eyes was absolutely justified. And so, before her mouth could get her into any more trouble, Annette fluttered her fingers in what she hoped was a nonchalant wave and marched over to Felix himself.

He wasn’t the worst person she could have pointed to, but he was pretty close. Felix Hugo Fraldarius was probably the grumpiest person Annette had ever met.

And he was a complete villain.

She had held this opinion of him ever since high school when he’d overheard her singing one of her very first compositions and proceeded to ask her to continue singing it for the rest of the year. If they hadn’t had the same friends, Annette probably would have refused to put up with him at all. Never mind that he had eyes the color of glowing embers, or that she’d always kind of wanted to run her fingers through his messy hair, or that she’d blushed for a full twelve hours upon finding out that he’d subscribed to her channel. None of that mattered because Felix had always been, and would always be, a villain. A villain who she currently had to convince to pretend to be her party date. 

Felix was skulking by himself near the bottom of the stairwell and the scowl he wore would have done the grinch proud. Annette was rather surprised to see him here as he’d never been one for large social events. Maybe he’d lost a bet to Sylvain? Felix’s eyes fell on her and his brow raised inquiringly as she sidled to his side.

“Heeeeeeey, Felix,” Annette began. She could feel Lorenz’s curious gaze, though fortunately, he wasn’t close enough to hear their conversation. “I kind of, maybe have a teensy-weensy little favor to ask you.”

Felix’s brows furrowed—not an unexpected reaction. “What might that be?” he asked, sounding bored but Annette detected a spark of interest in his eyes.

“Um, just play along,” she mumbled, then immediately took his hand and threaded their fingers together.

At this point, it was difficult to tell who was blushing harder: Annette or Felix. She felt him tense, though much to her relief, he didn’t pull away.

“What are you—” he began, but Annette shook her head, doing her best to ignore the temptation to glance over her shoulder and see if Lorenz was still watching them.

“I might have told Lorenz you were my date to the party tonight,” Annette said, feeling the blush all the way to the roots of her hair. Silence followed this statement, though much to Annette’s surprise, Felix seemed more confused than annoyed.

“Why?” he finally asked.

“Oh um, because he asked me to be his,” she responded.

Felix snorted. “Why didn’t you just tell him no?”

Annette’s lips thinned. Their fingers were still threaded together which was making it difficult to think properly. “Because I panicked, okay? I’m sorry we can’t all be as cold and straight to the point as you are.”

Felix smirked, an expression he usually took on before saying something particularly sarcastic. “You panicked and now I have to deal with it,” he said dryly. “How is that fair?”

“Fine!” Annette snapped, drawing her hand from his and glaring at him. “Forget I said anything! You’re such a—”

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t do it.”

Those words stopped Annette mid-tirade and for a moment, she could only stare at him. Fortunately, she was able to gather herself enough to respond.

“What?”

Felix shrugged. “Pretending to be your date seems like a good way to keep from talking to other people. There are definitely more annoying things I could be doing tonight,” he answered.

Annette rolled her eyes. “Your sacrifice is greatly appreciated.”

Spending the evening with Felix was far from the worst thing Annette could have done. On the contrary, she actually found she was enjoying herself quite a bit. Lorenz did not ask to be her date again, and Sylvain only teased them a few times before apologizing by handing them both drinks. By the time the party drew to a close, Annette was feeling comfortably fuzzy, humming quietly as she stood in the entryway with Felix and waited for Mercedes to call an uber.

“Thanks for being my date tonight,” Annette said, glancing up at Felix and smiling broadly. “I hope it wasn’t completely terrible.”

He shrugged. “Not completely,” he responded, and then gave her a small smirk which set Annette’s cheeks alight all over again.

“Ready to go, Annie?”

Annette turned to where Mercedes was walking toward them, a smile on her face and her phone in her hand. “Our uber is only three minutes aw—oh!”

“What?” Felix asked. Mercedes had stopped moving, her eyes fixed on something above their heads. Annette glanced up and squeaked.

Mistletoe.

There was a small sprig of it positioned in the doorway directly above herself and Felix. Sylvain had probably put it there on purpose for just such an occasion. Maybe to use himself.

“Um…” Annette mumbled, her face heating as she looked at Felix. He glanced at the mistletoe and scowled.

“Just ignore it,” he muttered.

“You can’t do that!” Mercedes spoke up, a devilish grin on her face. “It’s the rules!”

“According to who!?” Felix snapped back. Before Mercedes could respond or Felix could make anymore biting comments, Annette rose onto her tiptoes and pecked Felix on the cheek. She pulled away, her face on fire.

“Thanksforeverythingtonight!” she said quickly, the words spilling from her lips like a cup of overturned eggnog. “Let’s go Mercie!”

She dashed out the door, ignoring Mercedes’s giggle as her friend followed.

“Annette!”

Annette paused as Felix called after her, wondering if he was about to tell her off for being so bold. Nervously, she turned toward him.

“Y-yes?”

“…I liked your most recent song. Lorenz is an idiot. Don’t change anything about it,” he muttered. Annette’s mouth fell open, the words catching her completely off guard. Before she could find her voice again, Felix was turning away. “Don’t trip on your way home.”

And as he vanished back inside, Annette could have sworn he was blushing.


End file.
